siver coin ring part I

Inspired by the spirit of Make:, blind love, and a shallow pocket, i made a silver ring out of a 1907 Canadian quarter for my girlfriend this past summer. 1907 because it is an even century before i met her. At the same time, i got my hands on a 1907 silver 50 that i was going to shape into a matching ring for myself, but realized after the first ring was finished that a 50 would be too large for a single ring (cursed by the Asian gene of the slender southern variety, my ring finger would fit a size 8 comfortably, which would amount to sizing the 50 to nearly 3/4" in span). It seems only natural then to make 2 rings out of the 50, a feat i'll attempt over the next few months in my spare time.

Before that though, here's how i made the first ring:

I started with a Canadian 1907 quarter (has to predate 1960s to insure it's ~90+% silver since nickle is too brittle)














Next, using a small hammer and mini anvil-vice screwed to my desk, i started tapping away at the edges while rotating the ring. The coin began to lose it's grooves, then widen after a half hour.











After 2-3 hours of careful tapping, i was able to size the ring down without too much twist, and proceeded to add a shiny bevel to the edge by very carefully tapping on an angle and gently run a cloth over it with silver polish.











Next is the part i differ from the typical coin ring. Instead of boring out the center with a dremel, i took a regular low-speed power drill to the ring and drilled holed around the center with the ring on a padded vice. I wanted to keep the inscription of the date and make use of it later.











All that left after this is to sand the middle inner face of the ring smooth with a dremel bit, and to find something i can do with the center piece.

The finished product, on a chain and over silver shavings, with a heart-shaped accessory baring the inscription of how much this coin was worth a century ago...